Warm Weather Kicks Up Sales of Outdoor & Sports Toys

Port Washington, NY, July 13, 2015 – Outdoor and sports toys, including summer seasonal items, experienced 5 percent growth in sales from January through May 2015, just in time for sunshine and summer vacation, according to global information company The NPD Group.

“The record setting heat in Florida and above average temperatures up the Atlantic coast during the month of April contributed to the increase in sales of outdoor and sports toys,” said Juli Lennett, senior vice president of the U.S. toys division at The NPD Group. “The warm South Atlantic region experienced 8 percent growth in the category.”

The growth drivers within outdoor and sports—the largest toys super category based on dollar volume and nearly two times the size of the next largest super category—were blasters and shooters (+37 percent), bubble toys/solution (+18 percent), pools (+13 percent), and battery operated ride-ons (+9 percent).

“With outdoor and sports being such a large category, it has contributed about $60 million or 21 percent of the total absolute dollar growth to the industry year-to-date,” added Lennett. “Nerf leads the way, adding about $22 million in growth to blasters and shooters alone.”

Source: The NPD Group, Inc. / Retail Tracking Service

U.S. data is representative of retailers that participate in The NPD Group's Retail Tracking Service. NPD’s current estimate is that the Retail Tracking Service represents approximately 80 percent of the U.S. retail market for Toys.